UEFA WOMEN’S EURO™: PEKKA PUSKA, PRESIDENT WORLD HEART FEDERATION, INTRODUCES FINLAND TO EAT FOR GOALS!

World Heart Federation President, Professor Pekka Puska, used the UEFA WOMEN’S EURO 2009™, which took place in Finland (August 23–September 10) as a platform to promote Eat for Goals! in his native country. This children’s cookbook, in which 13 leading footballers give their favourite healthy recipes, is a joint venture between the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the European Commission and the World Heart Federation.

Stars’ recipes

The book, launched in 2008, is aimed at children aged 5–11 years to encourage them to eat healthily with the use of simple-to-make dishes from some of the most famous names in the game. It features dishes from three players involved at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™: Denmark midfielder Cathrine Paaske Sørensen, Germany captain Birgit Prinz and England’s Kelly Smith. As well as recipes from Steven Gerrard (crunchy sea bream with herbs), Carles Puyol's (pasta with pesto and grilled vegetables) and Miroslav Klose's (power omelette).

Pekka Puska: teaching good eating habits early

Professor Pekka Puska, explained why UEFA and footballers were committed to communicating the healthy eating message at a time when obesity is on the increase. “Cooking is fun and what is better than having these famous role models to show their own favourite recipes, to show that healthy food can be nice, look beautiful and taste good when you learn to eat it?” he continued by saying “It is a question of future health. The kind of lifestyles you learn as children tend to continue throughout adulthood.”

Role models reach out

Smith has been voted among the top five in the last three FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) Women’s World Player of the Year awards and was a winner of countless honours with Arsenal LFC before her 2009 move to American professional club Boston Breakers. She said: “I'm very proud to be part of Eat for Goals! It is something I was definitely interested in; I’ve had a great time talking about food and how important it is for youngsters to eat the right amount of food and the right foods in order to give them a healthy balanced diet.” She concluded “Child obesity is a worrying problem so 13 of us have put together our favourite recipes, and how these foods make us perform better on the field. We can reach out to youngsters and nip obesity in the bud. I was really proud to be selected and be one of three women’s footballers in this book. I wish I'd had this book as a youngster. They can look at their role models and try and model themselves on myself and other female athletes.”

Multiple language versions

UEFA, as part of its ongoing football and social responsibility efforts, identified the Eat for Goals! project as a good way to talk to a large and young public about the importance of good food and daily exercise. Eat for Goals! is available in English, French, German, Polish, and Spanish, with Dutch, Russian, Italian and Turkish versions to follow in the autumn.

To order the book and for more information >

UEFA donation

The book can be ordered directly from the publishers or from booksellers such as Amazon. Purchasers will be helping more children as UEFA will donate €1 from the sale of each book in support of the World Heart Federation's programmes encouraging children to be physically active.